In what appeared to be a direct message to President Bola Tinubu, his former special adviser on political matters, office of the Vice-President, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, has warned against rigging the 2027 election like the 2023 election.
It’s widely believed that the 2023 presidential election was massively rigged in favour of Tinubu with reports from both local and international observers including the European Union describing the election as utterly flawed and non-transparent.
Baba-Ahmed, who resigned from the Tinubu administration appeared to have taken a strong political position, conveying what appeared to be the general message of warning from the political leaders from the North.
Although his appointment received knocks being that he displayed partisanship as the spokesman of the Northern Elders Forum, he nonetheless accepted it and soon found himself on the crossroads where he often engaged in acrimonious exchange of words with some Tinubu ministers especially the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle.
It did not come as a surprise when he tendered his resignation and has taken a partisan position against the administration warning that the 2027 election must be transparent, credible, and free and fair for Nigeria to exist as one entity.
In a video interview circulating, Baba-Ahmed revealed that the northern position on the 2027 election would be made known, calling on northerners to remain united and wary of “traitors” who are working to weaken the region from within.
The northern voices have been in disapproval of Tinubu’s appointments which have often been cited as favouring his kinsmen in Lagos and largely his southwest political base.
In the light of this, Baba-Ahmed swore warning, “The north will stand to defend herself, I swear to God.”
He added, “North should be very careful, and avoid traitor politicians and also avoid what might divide them.”
He called for northern unity, calling on all northern groups, including Muslims, Christians, Fulani, Baju, and Mangu to unify ahead of 2027.
Although the gentleman agreement is for rotational presidency broadly between the North and South, with Tinubu hoping to have a go for his second term, Atiku Abubakar and some northern leaders have argued that agreement should be done away with for the sake of good leadership.
Atiku, a former vice president, is hoping to contest and has received grand support by the core members of the ex-president Muhammadu Buhari’s ministers and his Congress for Progressive Change (CPC). The group and ministers from the Buhari government have been following him to political visits.
Baba-Ahmed vaguely touched on that massive northern movement and unity waning, “You understand now, no politician will come and say, ‘where are the northerners, follow me’. Who are you?”
He argued that the region has grown more politically conscious following the eight years under Buhari and the ongoing struggles under the present administration.
According to him, the north now demands leadership that truly understands and addresses its realities.
“By God’s grace, in the next six months, the north will come out and tell their next direction,” he said.
“It’s left for the remaining Nigerians either they follow us, or we go alone. We know nobody will become president without the North.”
He issued a stern warning ahead of the 2027 elections, stressing that any attempt to manipulate the process could trigger dire consequences.
“Conducting a bad election in 2027 may lead to the end of Nigeria, I swear to God,” he said.
The former presidential aide added that northern elders and stakeholders were preparing to take a stand, and the time to act was fast approaching.
“There will be a time we will come out and say it’s okay, and it’s soon. This injustice is over. We know who we are.”
